


We Keep This Love In A Photograph

by CaithyCat



Series: They Don't Know About Us: TyRus Request Fics [1]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: 8th grader Cyrus, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, high school TJ, mentions of Jandi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 11:10:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15411603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaithyCat/pseuds/CaithyCat
Summary: Cyrus is now in 8th grade. Meanwhile, TJ has graduated middle school and going to high school. It's their first week in school but they miss each other terribly.





	We Keep This Love In A Photograph

 

Locker doors opened and shut. Feet shuffled against the cold but clean linoleum floor. Students chattered left and right, hugging, giving each other high-five’s, and exchanging stories from their summer vacation. A couple expressed their lament about the end of the summer, but others were thrilled that they could see their friends every day again.

Amidst the throng of excited students, Cyrus stood in front of his locker, eyes trained on the neatly-arranged books and notebooks. He made sure they were all arranged according to his class schedule for easy access. Satisfied, he turned his attention to the back of the locker door. It was bare for now. 

Cyrus reached into his book bag and took out a mini pouch of fun-looking magnets, post-it notes, and a single photo.

With his lips jutting out in concentration, he neatly arranged the magnets in a line. Above them, he stuck 3 stacks of post-it notes in yellow, pink, and green. And above those, his class schedule, already color-coded. Then, he took the photo and placed it underneath the line of magnets before taking one of the said magnets (one with a bright smiley face on it) and used it to hold the photo in place.

TJ’s signature smirk stared back at him, his arm around a smiling Cyrus throwing a peace sign. They had taken it during one of their many dates at the park.

Cyrus sighed, sadly. God, he missed TJ.

He thought he would be able to handle his boyfriend’s absence in school a bit better. But, now that that day had finally come, he realized that it just felt too strange and odd not to have TJ waiting for him with a chocolate chocolate chip muffin or meeting him at his locker so he could walk Cyrus to homeroom. 

His chest was all tight and he kind of felt like crying, but he had to try and remain strong. He promised TJ that he would be fine and he would do his best to be. He couldn’t rely on his boyfriend always being there to give him the push he needed. It was time to do that, himself.  

“Hey, Cy! Ready for class?” 

Andi and Buffy walked up to him, all smiles and cheer. But, seeing Cyrus’ face, their excitement turned worried.

“Are you okay?” Andi asked.

Cyrus cleared his throat and nodded, forcing a smile. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? I get to see you guys every day now!”

He turned back to his locker to grab his things for the day, still smiling. But, when he moved to close his locker, his eye caught the photo. His smile disappeared again and he sighed before he could stop himself.

Quick as lightning, Andi and Buffy sidled up to his sides and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, offering comfort.

“It’s okay, Cy,” Buffy said. “You guys will meet up again.”

“Yeah,” Andi agreed. “And for the record, I miss Jonah too. So I totally get it.”

Cyrus suddenly felt sheepish, realizing that she, too, must be feeling forlorn. Jonah had also graduated (though, he was going to a different high school than TJ.)

“Sorry,” he said to her, feeling guilty at forgetting. 

“Don’t be,” Andi reassured him with a smile. “We all miss our boys.”

Buffy snorted. “Your boys. Not mine.”

Andi looked offended. “Oh, come on, admit it. You miss them too.”

“I miss that I can’t beat TJ on a one-on-one in front of the entire team anymore. That’s what I miss.”

At that, Cyrus felt himself laughing for the first time all morning. Buffy would never admit it but she probably missed her frenemy more than she realized. After all, no one else in school challenges her competitive side more than TJ did. (Except maybe Marty from the party but they didn’t talk about him much anymore.)

 Like always, his friends always knew how to make him feel better.

“Thanks, guys,” he said to them, gratefully. “Let’s take a selfie to commemorate this day! We’re 8th graders!”

With a cheer, Cyrus took out his phone and handed it to Buffy, who had the longest arm among the three of them. 

“Say, baby taters!” he said.

“Baby taters!”

Buffy took the photo and Cyrus immediately posted it online, captioning it: “8th Grade! Will be a blast with the GHC! #friendship #GoodHairCrew #Squadgoals.”

As he clicked on “post”, he got a sudden idea. He opened up a text window and typed, “First day of 8th grade! Feels weird without you. Miss you! *kiss emoji* *sad face emoji* *heart emoji*”

Satisfied, he sent it to TJ. He hoped it would make him smile on his first day of the oh-so-scary new environment called high school.

Taking one last glance at the photo on his locker and smiling at it, he closed the locker, grabbed his things, and linking arms with his best friends, they walked to class.

 

* * *

 

A mile or so away, in Jefferson High School, TJ was also at his locker. He had taped his schedule to his locker door, taking the tip from Cyrus to color-code it so he could keep track of what he needed for the day. 

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as he thought of his boyfriend, only a couple of miles away yet he felt even farther than just the 20-minute walk between the two schools. He knew he could still see Cyrus during weekends but it was different seeing him every day, walking him to class, eating lunch with him, and doing homework with him... and, maybe, sneaking in a kiss behind a locker door or a book when no one was looking.

Well, one thing was for sure, his first year of high school was not going to be fun. He had gone to Middle School with some of the students here, but it wasn’t like they really talked to him back then. 

Before Cyrus, he was just an unapproachable bully whose only saving grace was being captain of the basketball team. And after he and Cyrus started hanging out and eventually dating, he mostly hung out with him and his friends. But, obviously, the GHC were all still in 8th grade and Jonah Beck had gone to a different school that had an ultimate frisbee team. 

Great. He missed Cyrus AND made himself feel even more like a lonely loser who had no friends.

Just as he closed his locker door with a loud ‘slam’, his phone ping-ed with a text. It was from Cyrus.

His lips twitched into a smile as he opened it up. A photo of his Cyrus, Andi, and Buffy stared back at him. They were all smiles but he could see that his boyfriend’s smile wasn’t up to his ears.

“First day of 8th grade! Feels weird without you. Miss you! *kiss emoji* *sad face emoji* *heart emoji*”

TJ’s chest felt warm as he giddily texted back: “I miss you too. *cry emoji* *broken heart emoji*”

It was a simple exchange, but he felt his mood improve and he felt more ready to start the day. Cyrus had a way of doing that.

God, he really missed him.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Every day, for the entire week, Cyrus would start his school day by staring at TJ’s smirking self on his locker door before taking out his cell phone and taking a selfie. Then, he would send the selfie to TJ with a cute text about missing him and how he hopes he has a nice day at school.

He kind of felt silly doing it so much, but he couldn’t help it. He just really, really, really missed TJ. They couldn’t even meet after school because apparently, high school meant having a lot of homework in the first week so TJ had been staying after school working with his Math teacher since they hadn’t found a tutor for him yet.

On Wednesday, TJ had sent him a photo of his locker. TJ’s middle school locker had been bare except for his books, but this time, it wasn’t. Tacked on to the metal door was his class schedule (specially color-coded by Cyrus himself), a pad of post-it notes, and, Cyrus’ favorite, a photo of the two of them. It was one they had taken at TJ’s graduation dinner at the Spoon with the GHC and Jonah. Cyrus had wrapped his arms around TJ’s neck and tucked his head onto his shoulder, both sporting tooth-y smiles as they looked at the camera. It was one of Cyrus’ favorite photos of the two of them and now, clearly, one of TJ’s as well.

Thursday came and went with nothing remarkable happening. Except for when he got hit in the head with a basketball during Gym class. He told TJ this, who, in turn, told him that they would continue working on his basketball skills.

(”I’m a lost cause! You know this!” Cyrus had said to him on the phone. 

“No, you’re not, we can work on it,” TJ had replied, calmly.)

And before he knew it, it was Friday.

The week couldn’t have ended faster. Cyrus just wanted Friday to end so Saturday could start and he could see TJ again.

And, finally, finally, FINALLY, the final bell rang. Cyrus joined his fellow classmates in heading out the door and to their lockers. Andi fell into step beside him. Buffy didn’t have the same last class as them so they would have to meet her at her locker.

“So, are we going to the Spoon today?” Cyrus asked. “Since we survived our first day of 8th grade, I think it’s a cause for celebration with some baby taters, and milkshakes! What do you say?”

Andi flashed a smile. “Yes! Of course! Meet with Buffy at her locker?”

Cyrus gave a thumbs up and headed for his locker while Andi broke away so she could run to hers. (Why must their lockers be on separate floors?!)

Opening his locker, Cyrus’ eyes immediately locked on the photo there. He smiled, touching the image of TJ’s face, softly. He couldn’t wait to see him. Maybe he should text him and see if he could meet them at the Spoon later.

So, he took out his phone and sent a quick text before putting it away and gathering all of the things he needed for the weekend. He didn’t have much homework. His teachers were merciful this first week.

Ready for the weekend, Cyrus strolled through the halls towards the first floor where Buffy and Andi’s lockers were. Andi was already there, chatting with Buffy. She caught sight of him and waved him over.

“Hey, guys, ready to go?” he asked, smiling with excitement.

“Actually, I think I need a minute, I can’t find my Science textbook,” Buffy said, pouting.

“Oh, do you need help looking? Maybe you left it somewhere.”

“Yes, we’ll help, definitely!” Andi piped.

Buffy looked through her locker once before sighing. “I think I might have left it in the Science lab. Or in homeroom. Or maybe the library. I’m not sure.”

“Oh, I know! I can look in the Science lab and Buffy can look in homeroom. Cyrus, why don’t you look in the library?”

Cyrus furrowed his eyes in confusion, wondering why they just couldn’t look together. Nonetheless, he shrugged and headed back up the stairs towards the third floor, Buffy trailing behind him. The Science Lab was on the first floor and Buffy’s homeroom was on the second.

He scanned the library tables, in between bookshelves, and even rummaged through the “return” box, but Buffy’s science book was nowhere to be found. He thought about getting on his hands on the floor and check the gap under the bookshelves when Buffy sent him a text, saying that she found it in the lost and found and to meet them outside.

By then, there were barely any students left. A few had stayed behind for extracurriculars but otherwise, the halls were empty.

Finally, he made it out of the school and he was more than ready to just head to the Spoon and indulge. Just as they said, Buffy and Andi were waiting outside.

“Ready to go?” he asked them.

The two girls flashed each other mysterious looks before Andi looked down at her phone. 

“Actually, can we wait here for about 2 more minutes?” she asked.

Cyrus frowned. “Why? Are we waiting for someone?”

“Yes, yes we are,” Buffy said with a smirk.

Confused, Cyrus just said, “O... kay?”

All of a sudden, Andi let out a squeal. “He’s here!”

“He?”

Buffy grinned. “Cyrus, turn around.”

Still confused, Cyrus obeyed, slowly turning on his heels. At first, he wasn’t sure who or what he was supposed to be looking at. But, the sight of familiar light brown hair bobbing in the air had him gasping in shock and surprise. He blinked several times to be sure he wasn’t imaging things.

But, sure enough, there was TJ, in the flesh, running up to them, his backpack hanging loosely from one shoulder. 

Cyrus was no athlete but he felt his legs willingly move forward, breaking into a run towards the high schooler who had now stopped in his tracks and dropped his backpack on the ground. Cyrus, with all the little strength he had, practically leaped into TJ’s waiting arms, wrapping his own arms around the older boy’s neck.

“You’re here!” Cyrus cheered, happily as TJ’s hold on his waist tightened. “You’re here! I missed you! I missed you so much! You have no idea!”

At his ear, TJ let out a laugh, making Cyrus’ heart skip a beat. How he missed that sound too!

“I think I have a fair idea,” the older boy said, teasingly. “I missed you too, Underdog. Really, really missed you.”

Cyrus wasn’t sure how long they stood there, hugging. But, he was perfectly content staying like that. TJ’s hug. TJ’s smell. TJ’s little chuckles. They were all overwhelming his senses, he was afraid his knees would buckle.

But, all good things had to end.

“Come on, you gross lovebirds! Aren’t we getting baby taters and milkshakes?” Buffy called out, sounding annoyed.

“Yeah! And Jonah is already there waiting!” Andi added, a bit more playfully.

Reluctantly, Cyrus pulled away from TJ, but refused to more more than a step away from him. He had missed him so, therefore, he would invade his personal space until Cyrus was satisfied.

Buffy pretended to throw up as she linked her arm through Andi’s and began to tow her away from the sickeningly sweet couple.

Meanwhile, TJ had picked up his backpack from the ground and swung it onto his shoulder. With a soft smile just for Cyrus, he held out his hand to him.

“Shall we, my kind sir?” he asked, politely.

Cyrus felt proud as he slipped his hand into it, linking their fingers. “Lead the way, my gallant knight.”

Together, they followed after the two girls, hands swinging playfully between them.

Even though Cyrus knew that they were going to be apart again, at that moment, all that mattered was that TJ was right there next to him, holding his hand. And he wasn’t planning on letting go any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt given to me on Tumblr (thinkingabouttyrus.tumblr.com) and is also based on my own personal headcanons of high school TJ and 8th grader Cyrus.


End file.
